Jean Lenti Is Apparently OUT At DePaul As Athletic Director
(WeAreDePaul)--Sources have confirmed to WeAreDePaul.com that DePaul Athletic Director Jean Lenti Ponsetto intends to announce her retirement.
That announcement is expected to be made by the university on Friday.
DePaul President A. Gabriel Esteban and the University’s Board of Trustees will begin an immediate search for a new Athletic Director.
Ponsetto has served as DePaul’s Athletic Director for 18 years and was named to the position on July 1st, 2002. She has been associated with the university for over 40 years. Before becoming Athletic Director, Ponsetto served as the school’s Senior Associate Athletic Director for seven years, and Associate Athletic Director for 12 years. She started her career at DePaul as an assistant coach under women’s basketball coach Doug Bruno immediately following her graduation from DePaul in 1978.
Pretty big Chicago sports news broken last night by the guys at the DePaul affiliate for 24/7sports. Jean Lenti is done at DePaul. The woman who will have the shining legacy of letting a once proud basketball program become a complete and utter laughing stock AND...allegedly covering up YEARS of abuse by her fucking brother who was the head coach of the softball team for decades
From TMZ about 6 weeks ago
In the docs, Conviser says players told her the coach often called them "f**king whores" and "regularly punched them about their bodies," among other things.
Conviser says when she brought this to the attention of school officials ... they failed to properly investigate -- and says it's all because Lenti's sister, Jean Lenti Ponsetto, was the program's athletic director.
Conviser says in 2018, a similar incident happened ... when a patient told her Lenti, during a dispute, "had punched in the face his female Associate Head Coach."
The University is being sued by former athletes and staff members for literally punching female staff members and psychologically and emotionally tormenting players and who god knows what else. And yet...DePaul is allowing Jean Lenti to "retire". Very convenient time to call it quits after 18 years. DePaul, again, letting a Lenti slip out the backdoor instead of facing proper punishment. Retiring probably allows her to keep her full benefits and never receive proper justice for her role in the cover-up of abuse. I don't know that, but that is usually the case when a disgraced employee is allowed to resign instead of being fired for cause. Jean Lenti, 1 BILLION PERCENT deserves to be fired for cause. I'm not a lawyer, but it feels like there should be criminal charges for this. Not a pension plan.
On the athletics side, I really hope this allows DePaul to get an AD who cares about basketball and makes DePaul a destination for Chicago prep players again. They have the big gym in the South Loop now. They play in a great conference with similar schools. The Blue Demons should be a team that has tournament aspirations every year. The passion for the program, against all odds, is somehow still there. We saw it with #RankDePaul last Fall before the wheels completely fell off in conference play. The firing of Jean Lenti probably came 10 years too late. Now is a chance to take the first step back towards giving Chicago a real college basketball program again.